The King of Quidditch
by fictionalcandie
Summary: Everyone knows that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Lily Evans has decided that the way to a Quidditch Captain's heart, on the other hand, is through his best friend. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer:** The characters and settings depicted in this work of non-profit fiction are the intellectual and legal property of J.K.Rowling.

**Author's Notes:** Nothing really to say about this fic, 'scept that there are a few lines in it which I absolutely love. Shout-out to m'friend Megsie, as she helped me out when I had no plotbunnies.

Beware of Sneaky!Lily, Used!Sirius, and Jealous!James.

**o.o.o.o**

Lily Evans had reached a conclusion. In her mind, it was a very important conclusion. She had a problem, though: she couldn't figure out how she ought to explain it to James Potter. It would be a bit tricky...

The Saturday morning of the first Quidditch match, Lily woke with a plan in her head that she thought she just might use, if she could wrangle it. (Which she flattered herself she probably could.)

Unfortunately for her, Remus Lupin wasn't sitting where he usually sat. The only one in the Potter section was Sirius Black, and Lily had never really spoken to him before. She wasn't sure how well that would go; it would be marvelous, even better than she'd originally figured, if she got it to work. The problem would be predicting how well Black would cooperate.

Dare she risk it?

... She dared.

'I'll see you later,' Lily told her friends quickly, having made up her mind as soon as she got to the pitch. They gave her curious looks as she headed off, but they didn't ask where she was going.

So far, so good.

Time to put her sneaky master plan into action.

'Evans,' said Sirius, with great surprise, as she took a seat next to him. 'What are you doing here?'

She smiled cheekily. 'Which do you mean, Black? Here at the match, or here next to you?'

Sirius thought about this for a second, then said, 'Well, both, I suppose.'

'I'm here at the match because I come to all the Gryffindor matches,' said Lily calmly.

'You do?' Sirius interrupted her, looking startled. (For a moment, she wondered how he couldn't know this, as she _knew_ that James knew she came to all the matches; the first thing he did when he took the field was try and spot her, and her plan depended on this. Then she realized that James Potter probably wasn't going to be in any kind of rush to tell his best friend that he looked for her before every game. Something to do with having a penis and not liking to seem pathetic. Even when you are.)

'Of course, who doesn't?' She winked. 'Silly. And I'm here next to you, because you just looked so lonely over here all by yourself...'

Sirius stared at her. An upsurge of noise in the crowd around them announced that the teams had entered the pitch.

There-- he was looking for her. He'd realized she wasn't where she usually sat. A moment of panic-- yes, she'd expected that-- he started looking through the rest of the Gryffindor stands.

An innocent expression on her face, Lily linked her arm with Sirius's and smiled at him as widely as she could. 'Why _are_ you over here all by yourself, anyway?'

And-- he'd seen her-- he'd seen _them_. Lily forced her smile a little wider than she'd ever got it to go before, and peeked from the corner of her eye at the Quidditch Captain. He was staring at Lily and Sirius with what looked like absolute shock on his face.

Judging by his expression, Sirius was wondering who she was and what she'd done with the _real_ Lily Evans. He did not, however, seem to mind at all that she wasn't acting like herself. After a moment, he even managed to grin charmingly.

'Remus isn't feeling well, and Peter had to revise for Defense,' he answered.

Pretending more surprise than she actually felt, Lily exclaimed, 'Oh, you mean you're the extent of the Potter fan club today?'

'Looks like it, yep,' said Sirius. The expression on his face had turned rather wary.

Lily kept up her smile. James was watching again. 'Perhaps you could make me an honorary member,' she suggested brightly. Then, at his look of surprise, quickly added, 'Just for today. Then I could keep you company.'

Clearly skeptical, Sirius raised one eyebrow at her. 'Are you sure you want to be?' he asked.

'Well, it seems that's the only way I'm allowed to sit near you,' said Lily. She cast a pointed glance at the space around Sirius, which was so large that no other person was within touching distance. 'So yes, I'm sure.'

'You actually want to sit with me?' pressed Sirius. He didn't give up easily.

_Why_ did she have to get the most unmanageable of Potter's gang?

'What, do you object to my presence?' Lily asked, teasingly.

'No! I mean, no, of course not, it isn't that,' Sirius assured her. He seemed faintly annoyed; but whether it was at her, or himself, she couldn't tell. Lily patted his arm in a friendly way, and the annoyance seemed to ease slightly.

Good, good. She needed him to look like he was enjoying himself.

'What is it, then?'

Sirius looked a little confused. He started, in an uneven voice which suggested he didn't quite know how to say what he wanted to, 'It's just, James...'

_Ah._

'... James, what?' As she spoke, Lily smiled knowingly.

Sirius's attention abruptly returned to the game. 'Oh! Look, he's scored already!'

Lily _knew_ that. She'd been watching as much as she could without seeming to, and anyway, she always knew when James scored.

'You sound surprised,' she muttered, not really intending for him to hear. Unfortunately, he did, and gave her a quizzical look. She elaborated carelessly, 'He's usually scored _twice_ by now.'

Which was, incidentally, how she knew her plan was working.

'... You really do come to the Gryffindor games, then?' exclaimed Sirius. It was a rhetorical question, so Lily simply smiled at him. Sirius shook his head, and said, 'I wonder how James never noticed...'

Deciding not to disabuse him of the notion that his friend would tell him anything, Lily shrugged innocently. 'Perhaps it never occurred to him that he should.'

Sirius goggled at her.

'You're... joking, right?' he asked, in a tone which suggested he thought she'd lost her mind.

'Why, Sirius, my dear, I--' Whatever Lily had been about to say, however, she didn't get a chance. The instant "dear" left her mouth, her companion leapt to his feet and rushed to the edge of the box.

Sirius was staring at the pitch almost as incredulously as he'd been staring at Lily a moment before. 'Was that the Snitch?'

It was, indeed. The next thing they knew, the Gryffindor Seeker had captured it, and the match was over.

Lily smothered her disappointment at having her opportunity ruined. It was a bit difficult, until she realized that, instead of landing on the pitch like he normally did, James was hovering perhaps twenty feet away, _staring at them_.

Outwardly, Lily kept her focus on Sirius, smiling widely at the back of his head. 'Shall we go congratulate James, do you think?'

Her voice was too soft for it to carry across the pitch, so James would have no idea what she'd said that had caused Sirius to spin around in astonishment like that. And _ooh_, did James look unhappy.

'You actually want to go up to him, voluntarily, and _congratulate_ him on winning the game?' Sirius exclaimed, his eyes very wide. Lily laughed, nodding, and he shook his head in disbelief. 'I haven't, like, stepped into some alternate universe, or something, have I?'

'No, I'm fairly sure this is the right one,' Lily replied soothingly. She slipped her arm back through his, and began leading him to the stairs. 'At least, I hope it is. I would hate to have gone to all this trouble for nothing...'

Instantly, Sirius froze.

Wondering what she'd said wrong, Lily turned her head slightly, to look at him curiously. 'Black? Sirius?'

His eyes were narrowed suspiciously. 'You're plotting something.'

He hadn't asked a question, so Lily didn't respond.

'You are,' Sirius said harshly, and Lily found her hand pressed tightly to him, her arm locked against his chest. She'd never seen him look quite so unfriendly. He leaned closer, speaking quietly so that no-one could overhear, 'You're plotting something, Lily Evans. I don't know what it is, and I don't need to. Let me just warn you, though, that if you're planning on taking advantage of the fact he still likes you, and hurting him in some way, then... well, you'd better watch out.'

_Oh, I plan on taking advantage of it, but not the way you mean..._

She was about to retort when she realized James was at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them. Sirius's back was to him, so he hadn't noticed yet. And also, James wouldn't be able to see Sirius's face; a position like they were in, without reference to Sirius's expression, would look very bad indeed.

Lily forced herself to laugh. 'You don't need to worry, Sirius,' she whispered. '_He's_ not in danger.'

For a moment, Sirius looked adorably confused. She made use of this to prance down the stairs, pulling him with her.

They got along fine, until they reached the bottom of the stairs, and Sirius noticed his best friend. He stopped, bringing Lily stumbling to a halt.

'So,' began James, looking at the two of them critically. 'I saw you both during the match.'

Sirius didn't say anything, and Lily pretended not to notice the guilty expression on his face. She threw one of her dazzling smiles at James. 'Did you? I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention -- Sirius is such fun to talk to, I hadn't realized.'

'Yes, he has his moments,' agreed James, a touch of ice in his voice. He narrowed his eyes at his silent best friend. 'Now, however, doesn't seem to be one of them.'

'I'm just waiting to see how much trouble I'm in, before I stick my foot in it,' mumbled Sirius, looking away from him.

'Don't be silly,' snapped James. There was a deceptive air of calm around his words. 'Why on Earth would you be in trouble?'

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but apparently thought better of it.

Taking pity on him, Lily interceded. 'Not for sitting with _me_, I hope?'

Both young men looked at her, as they'd momentarily forgotten that she was there, and hadn't expected her to say anything, anyway. Neither one looked like they were going to comment, so Lily went on, 'You see, that was all my fault -- your private fan section looked a bit empty, so I thought I might help fill it out.'

A pause. 'You're a fan of me?' James demanded, his eyes a little wider than normal.

Lily grinned. They'd reached what was the whole point of her plan, and this was when she got to say it, 'I could be persuaded, I think.'

Now, this was more encouragement than James had received in any of the past seven years, put together. So, understandably, he got rather excited.

'You-- really? You're-- no kidding?'

Lily laughed. It wasn't like the many times she'd laughed while sitting with Sirius to make James jealous; this was a genuine one, honestly delighted by the young man standing there, making a fool out of himself over _her_.

'Not at all!' she assured him, grinning. 'Everyone knows I have no sense of humor.'

Sirius, who'd often said that to James between classes (very loudly, just as Lily was passing in the halls), opened his mouth and gaped, fishlike, at her. James did much the same thing, only his cheeks turned pink.

Lily wanted to laugh again, but decided it would be a bit of a bad idea. She didn't want to offend them. 'I _do_, however, have a very strong desire to sit next to our Captain at the victory party -- which has probably started without you boys. (Perish the thought, of course.)'

At this startling admittance, Sirius continued to goggle at Lily with all his might. This time, James managed to rally himself, and displayed a noticeably different reaction.

'If you're sure,' he said, with the most brilliant smile either of them had ever seen on his face, 'then the Captain had better go shower. We don't want him stinking of Quidditch leather, do we? I promise it'll be quick -- I'll meet you in the common room in just a minute.'

After receiving another stunning smile of assurance from the Head Girl, James turned on his heel and dashed -- as slowly and calmly as he could -- off to the showers. Sirius followed him with his eyes, and thus was a little startled when Lily giggled.

Before heading off after James, Lily came back over next to Sirius, who fixed her with a rather hard look. She smiled, and reaching up, brushed a kiss against his cheek.

'Thank you,' she whispered, smilingly. 'I couldn't have done it without you.'

Sirius managed to grin weakly at her as she walked away, but as soon as she was out of sight, his mouth twisted unpleasantly. 'I wish you _had_. Or, at least, _asked_ first.'

Then the unusual twist went down at the corners, turning into a distinctly recognizable pout.

'I would have enjoyed it more if I knew what you were up to.'

_**fin**_


End file.
